We speak to Jessy Gomes CMIOSH, technical safety systems lead at University College London, England, about being a role model for women in OSH.
When Jessy Gomes embarked on her OSH career at the age of 24, she felt like a fish out of water. Having moved to the UK from France, her English was ‘really poor’, and she joined the construction sector where ‘the team was mainly made up of men in their 50s’.
‘It was a really intimidating environment because there was a disproportionate number of men. Coming from abroad and being so young, it was a new world for me,’ she recalls. But determined to succeed and prove her worth, Jessy persevered and used the opportunity to her advantage.
‘It pushed my boundaries as a person, and I became much more confident. This is important for young people joining the profession who might think: “I just can’t do it.” You really have to get stuck into this type of environment. And because I had the opportunity to work with people who were much older than me, I could soak up a lot of information from them and learn very fast.’
Sense of empowerment
Her experience in a male-dominated sector helped Jessy to find her voice – not just as a professional, but as a woman. ‘Sometimes I would feel like I couldn’t say things: “Do I say that what he did made me uncomfortable? Should he have been speaking to me in that way?” It can create a lot of anxiety for women.
‘Now it’s changing, but 10 or more years ago women may not have had all the tools to be able to speak up. But now I’m much more confident when I see things. I intervene when something is not right.’
It’s a shift Jessy has observed among other women in the sector. ‘I see women owning that it’s not acceptable to be belittled. But it’s more a sense of empowerment, with various committees supporting women. It’s not about men versus women – but I think it’s important that women support each other.’
Reflecting on her own experience of gaining IOSH chartership, Jessy says many people – not only women – have helped her along the way. But it’s often women who champion other women to progress in OSH, she adds, because they are still in the minority. ‘Unfortunately, the statistics are there, and even though you don’t want to pitch men against women, there are not enough of us at a leadership level.’
Building the workplace of the future
Jessy shares some words of wisdom for making workplaces kinder, more equal and more ambitious:
- Be empathetic, listen to people and be attentive to behaviour. Sometimes women watch
themselves and don’t say how they feel in a professional setting. We need men to use their emotional intelligence to gauge if something is not right. - Kindness is underrated in the workplace. It can be a cut-throat environment for women, which is why so many working mothers leave and young people don’t join – they don’t feel welcome. I was tempted to quit many times in my early career when I felt intimidated.
- It’s healthy to reassess what you want to do in life. I constantly reinvent myself if I feel I’m being overlooked or not taken seriously. There’s no way I could stay in a job where I’m not valued.
- Everybody’s human in the workplace. Some people overlook instincts, but I’m always using my emotions to feel if I’m in the right situation. It’s just being human.
- What keeps me going is always learning and expanding my network.
The parent trap
The picture is improving slowly, it seems, but there is still work to do. ‘More needs to be done for people who choose to have children. This is crucial, because when you decide to take the leap and have children – now I have two – if you don’t have a really supportive manager and co-workers, you could really end up with mental health issues from stress and anxiety.’
Jessy also mentions menopause – ‘some women are really leading this conversation and I’m listening and supporting it’ – as well as chronic conditions that many suffer from, such as endometriosis. ‘Employers need to look at all the natural, biological milestones of women and be able to accommodate them, because they doesn’t last forever.’
Another move that employers could make is reporting the gender pay gap. ‘Provide your report, find out the data and rectify any pay gaps that are currently in place. This is an immediate action that employers could take.
‘Another one is looking at what the organisation is doing to support women – and I don’t mean just sending them onto a leadership programme and then forgetting about them. It’s about providing them with ongoing support, coaching, mentoring and sponsorship.’
Role model
Jessy has used her platform over the years to advocate for women and young people in OSH, and her eight-year tenure at IOSH was no exception. ‘Being a committee member in my early career helped me to gain confidence, which meant I was able to support people when they came to meetings at the branch. We’d have CPD sessions supporting anybody wanting to go further with their career, supporting them in looking for jobs.’
And this admirable level of dedication has earned Jessy many accolades, including being named one of the Top 20 Health and Safety Influencers 2022 by Safety and Health Practitioner, as well as winning Best Woman in Health and Safety at the Women in Construction and Engineering Awards 2021. What do these wins mean to her?
‘They gave me the desire to do more, and the confidence to continue using my voice. It kept me on my toes and reminded me that this is important, and that people are listening.’
